www.iva.co.uk

I am currently in an IVA and my question is on my wife's credit report there is a debt showing as a default which was a joint account I held with my wife (debt's around £2000) This account & amount was also part of the IVA and approved under the IVA hence the payments I make to the IVA go towards this account too.
I need some advice as to why is this account showing as default on my wife's credit report? why are they chasing my wife for this amount when its approved under my IVA? And lastly is there any way of having this entry removed from my wife's credit report as Iam already payiing this debt through my IVA? Just to clarify its only me in the IVA and not my wife.
Thanks,
Ash

Hi Ash,

If the debt was in joint names, I'm sure the creditors can chase your wife for the debt, despite it being part of your IVA.

Hold on and someone else will confirm.

Hi Ash and welcome.

Julie is correct - if it is a joint debt then you are both liable for it and she will be chased for the whole amount even though it has gone into your IVA.

I agree with Jan and Julie above. Did your IP not explain to you that you 'both' owe the whole amount until the debt is cleared?

Your wife will probably have to discuss with the creditor various options to repay the debt.

Hi! You and your wife are both liable for the full debt. Now you are in an iva they will expect her to make ongoing payments as per the contract. Your payments will be deducted from the amount owed so between you, you'll repay the debt in full. Does this ring any bells? It should have been explained to you and perhaps even provision made in yur expenses?? x

Hi, I'm new to the forum but that's my story too but the other way around. My wife went bankrupt and all the joint debt fell to me and boy did those creditor types chase. Your IVA adviser should have spotted that and worked out a solution for you both.
This is one for a professional. If your wife decides to pay the debt to that creditor, other creditors may just jump on the band wagon. If you make any payments to creditors outside the IVA to get them of your back this could (as I understood it) invalidate the IVA. Get advise and make a plan. It might mean you both have an IVA.

His wife will have to pay the debt as she is jointly liable. She will have to either make the full contractual monthly payments or, if she cannot afford that, come to some arrangement with the creditor.

The other creditors, unless any more are joint, have no claim at all on his wifes income and cannot chase her for her husbands debts.

Ash92 I was in similar position. I took out IVA and "joint overdraft" was covered (for me), however, Wife was left with liability (approx £4000).

The bank (via debt collectors) was relentless in chasing my Wife until she made a F & F offer to repay at least part of it. Debt agency eventually settled on a F & F @ £1700 (loaned to my wife from my son), however, she has been left with a "default" on her credit file.....although it has been marked "settled".

The IVA firm you use(or middleman),in my opinion has an obligation to ensure that joint debts are discussed fully before you sign up to an IVA.

Pretty shocking the number of people who dont realise that you are jointly and severally liable so if one half defaults on a debt the other half gets chased for it regardless of IVA's or BR's!!!

Paul

In my case the joint "overdraft" was discussed with my IP during the initial process, however, my Wife didn't qualify for an IVA (nor did she want included due to her employment) as the "overdraft" was our only joint debt, so we were aware that this would eventually come back to bite us and the advice I received gave us a couple of options on how my wife could agree a seperate "plan" with her creditors.

Unfortunately when a joint account is overdrawn then most if not all banks will not allow one party to leave, therefore even if we had the hindsight prior to me entering into an IVA, it is unlikely we could of withdrawn my wifes name off the account, but hey at the time the £4k really was the lowest of our concerns.

Agree it is a shame some fail to realise that joint debts may not be covered.

The joint creditor will always be chased for a joint debt. The debtor should be made aware of this at the outset though.